Waverley set to overtake Glasgow Central for first time in 150 years

[och aye]

That would be quite something if it does happen. I always thought Glasgow Central would remain Scotland's top dog.

Waverley set to overtake Glasgow Central for first time in 150 years

Waverley set to overtake Glasgow Central for first time in 150 years

Shift attributed to major changes in commuting and leisure travel

www.scotsman.com

Shift attributed to major changes in commuting and leisure travel

It is a grade A listed building that has been Scotland’s pre-eminent railway hub for nearly 150 years, but whose status is about to be stolen by its faster-growing east coast counterpart.

More passengers used Waverley than Central in December - the third month last year that it pulled ahead - and now the infrastructure body reckons that will shortly become a permanent state of affairs.

A total of 33.4 million people used Central last year compared to 32.3m at Waverley - but Glasgow’s main station only clocked up 2.5m in December while Edinburgh’s recorded 3m.

Waverley’s impending rail pre-eminence comes 19 years after the capital’s airport eclipsed Glasgow’s in passenger numbers for the first time, and it now handles twice as many.

Glasgow has Britain’s largest suburban rail network outside London with many commuter stations across the city and surrounding conurbation.

Meanwhile, Edinburgh’s attractiveness as a tourist destination along with faster and more frequent LNER trains from London are seen as helping to boost Waverley’s numbers.

Network Rail Scotland route director Ross Moran told the Unlocking Innovation rail industry conference in Glasgow: “There's a wafer thin margin between both stations. Waverley is on the cusp.

“Mark my words, it won't be too long before Waverley is the busiest station in Scotland.

“The traditions of the past are gone. In a post-Covid world, everything is in flux.

“Central was all about the commuter base, Monday to Friday 7-9am and 5-7pm - everything revolved around that sort of tradition.

“That's gone. The leisure market is growing and Saturdays are busy.”

A spokesperson for Network Rail Scotland said: “Glasgow Central remains the busiest station in the country, but December highlighted just how close Edinburgh Waverley now is, reflecting a shift towards more leisure travel.

“Demand at both stations is expected to continue rising with major events ahead, including this summer’s Commonwealth Games.

“Edinburgh Waverley in particular is seeing strong growth, driven by events and its status as one of the world’s most popular visitor destinations.

“Recent changes to the east coast main line timetable have also increased the number of seats available each day, helping to accommodate rising demand.”

Paul Tetlaw, rail policy adviser to sustainable transport campaigners Transform Scotland, said: “Edinburgh is a major tourist hub and well served by trains from the south as well as across Scotland.

“The increase in leisure travel in Scotland mirrors that experienced across the UK rail network.

“For ScotRail, this presents a major opportunity to attract visitors to Edinburgh onto their trains to explore other parts of Scotland.

“In terms of commuting, I do believe that market will continue to see a steady recovery as many organisations now understand the greater benefits to be had from their employees working together with their colleagues in an office environment.”

City of Edinburgh transport convener Stephen Jenkinson said: “Waverley becoming Scotland’s busiest rail station is testament to our pull as a city, and my focus is on ensuring that we manage this positive change responsibly.

“Our annual patronage figures for bus and tram are growing year on year, and we expect this trend to continue.

“These services, alongside other sustainable travel measures such as our cycle hire scheme and active travel routes, provide excellent connectivity for those arriving in our city by rail.”

 

[Transilien]

It annoys me as a Glaswegian that it feels like Edinburgh is pulling ahead in every metric, while we sit idly doing basically nothing to improve our city. I blame the 1996 local council redrawing getting rid of Strathclyde regional council and devolution, which gave Edinburgh the most political power in Scotland.

 

[waverley47]

This has been on the cards for an age. Pre-covid, we were projecting Waverley to hit 40m by about 2037. It's one of the reasons for the master plan; it's basically impossible to model peak time usage on August and December weekends with the current setup. It's heavily constrained by a long and narrow layout, and with inadequate capacity for passenger flows to the north and south of the station, especially to platforms 1, 8, 9, 10 & 20, up Waverley steps and onto Market St.

 

[Strathclyder]

That as may be and I'm not one to deny the major shifts in travel/work patterns since the pandemic (as that would be to deny reality), or that Glasgow has been the poorer, rougher cousin to the more upmarket, tourist-centric Edinburgh for decades and that the WCML is the slower and more meandering main rail route north than the ECML (any sort of service/capacity increase on the main WCML Glasgow expresses is wishful thinking at best). The latter two have been a fact longer than I've been alive and drawing oxygen.

However, this doesn't change the fact that Central is still far easier to navigate and is better laid out than Waverley, especially for first-time/infrequent visitors - I fall into the latter catagory - who either don't know about or find having to remember & relearn the station layout every time I pass through there a tedious exercise, especially if I have a tight connection to make.

Yes, I'm aware the current mess at Waverley is a result of how the station has evolved and expanded over it's 150+ year history, but none of that really matters to me when I just want to easily find my platform and train without having to remember what platform is where every time I use the station. I realize I'm in the minority here given the station's usage figures and most using it have the layout memorized like I do Central's, but that's just where I land on this issue.

And no, I'm not just saying all this due to my living on the West Coast all my life and therefore being biased in favour of my home city. But this bias is not completely without merit, given how it feels Edinburgh is surging ahead of Glasgow in every sense, not just in rail-based public transport. I realize there's a marked reduction in capital expenditure across the board post-pandemic and nothing is indicating it will improve substantially anytime soon, but Glasgow in particular has felt a bit... aimless and has lacked any real drive to improve anything for a long time; the 2014 Commonwealth Games high petered out in 2016/2017 and the city has felt like it's been going with the motions ever since. Inept leadership in both the City Chambers and within SPT combined with the seismic societial changes post-COVID have only brought this into increasingly sharper focus. Bold promises and proposals to improve matters come & go in this city like the clouds in a storm with nothing actually happening in practice (anything resembling the Glasgow Metro happening within my lifetime would be the shocker honestly) or if it does, it's painfully slow at best (looking at you, Subway modernization).

(I should make clear that I say none of that to put a damper on this news, at least that's not my intention. Any news of this kind is of course positive in a broader, national sense, but I don't know. Perhaps it's because I've lived in Glasgow or on it's fringes virtually my entire life and I get the feeling nowadays that the city and wider Strathclyde region is stagnating with no real aim or actual ambition. Maybe I'm just overly cynical and am using this thread as a way to vent my spleen and drag the thread OT in the process.)

It annoys me as a Glaswegian that it feels like Edinburgh is pulling ahead in every metric, while we sit idly doing basically nothing to improve our city. I blame the 1996 local council redrawing getting rid of Strathclyde regional council and devolution, which gave Edinburgh the most political power in Scotland.

A Strathclyde regional mayoralty centered on Glasgow could maybe go some way to help redress this problem and actually start making positive changes and pull the city out of the rut it's been stuck in for nearly a decade. It's also about as likely to happen as the sun rising in the west.

 

[cle]

I feel this too.

If you compare the air routes there is such a difference. EDI has flights to European business hubs and many to the USA. Ski resorts in winter. GLA is bucket & spade + Dubai.

Glasgow has felt a little stagnant this past 15 years. Some highlights (Kelvingrove, Commonwealth, Finnieston drag) - but just as many disappointments. The West End and especially Ashton Lane, are nothing now. Merchant City feels like potential gone.

It doesn’t have the pull of Edinburgh internationally (remember when after RBS everyone said that would die on its arse) - but domestically was a powerhouse. Had swagger, mischief, the Art School, a culture. But also lots of jobs.

Now it feels like Manchester is playing the role Glasgow could have done. And Glasgow is becoming more of a Newcastle. Fun, chirpy, culturally remote and a bit parochial.

 

[clc]

The article states that 33.4 million people used Central last year. However, the ORR figure for 24/25 was 25.3 million. How are these figures reconciled? Are figures produced for calendar years as well as financial years? If the annual figure is now over 33 million, which is higher than pre covid, that’s good news surely?

 

[Strathclyder]

I feel this too.

If you compare the air routes there is such a difference. EDI has flights to European business hubs and many to the USA. Ski resorts in winter. GLA is bucket & spade + Dubai.

Glasgow has felt a little stagnant this past 15 years. Some highlights (Kelvingrove, Commonwealth, Finnieston drag) - but just as many disappointments. The West End and especially Ashton Lane, are nothing now. Merchant City feels like potential gone.

It doesn’t have the pull of Edinburgh internationally (remember when after RBS everyone said that would die on its arse) - but domestically was a powerhouse. Had swagger, mischief, the Art School, a culture. But also lots of jobs.

Now it feels like Manchester is playing the role Glasgow could have done. And Glasgow is becoming more of a Newcastle. Fun, chirpy, culturally remote and a bit parochial.

I wish I didn't agree with this as much as I do. Reason being is that I generally don't like getting into 'my city is better than your city' or 'your city is thriving as ours withers on the vine' debates as they often devolve into bitter arguements and divisions and often as not doesn't line up with reality (I just straight up ignore those deliberately trying to get under my skin in such a way, easier said than done sometimes), but just as much potential has been squandered in this city since 2010 as there have been success stories. Same is true for most cities and Glasgow is by no means unique here, but you'll always see & feel it particularly acutely in your own (goes without saying), especially if there's at least some merit to it.

The article states that 33.4 million people used Central last year. However, the ORR figure for 24/25 was 25.3 million. How are these figures reconciled? Are figures produced for calendar years as well as financial years? If the annual figure is now over 33 million, which is higher than pre covid, that’s good news surely?

If it does turn out to be over 33m, that is indeed good news and like I said above, I don't intend to pour cold water on this postive news story. I sincerely hope that numbers continue to climb here and elsewhere no matter which number turns out to be the accurate one.

I and others above were talking in more general terms about how Glasgow is getting overshadowed by Edinburgh as the former feels like, to this near life-long resident at least, it's been stuck in a rut for over a decade with no tangable, lasting, real-world improvements or political will to enact them to be found. For me personally, I think it indirectly and unintentionally made me realize that there's been a dearth of positive news stories coming out of Glasgow in recent times, and in this positive rail-related one, it gets overshadowed. I mean, I don't know what else I was expecting, capital cities often tend to overshadow their neighbours, especially those as well-known internationally and popular with tourists as Edinburgh. But at the same time, that doesn't mean cities like Glasgow should be left to fall into stagnation. In other words, I guess I got triggered without really realizing it.

Right, I think I've gone on enough about this (I need sleep), and I think this topic warrants it's own thread anyway. My apologies to the OP for dragging it off-piste like this.

 

[sh24]

Both are great cities in different ways, but Edinburgh has got the critical mass of almost year round tourism + business, and is a desirable place to relocate too. Not a surprise that it’s hitting number 1. A 30 minute service interval from London? What was that 40 years ago? 7-8 trains a day?

 

[takno]

The article states that 33.4 million people used Central last year. However, the ORR figure for 24/25 was 25.3 million. How are these figures reconciled? Are figures produced for calendar years as well as financial years? If the annual figure is now over 33 million, which is higher than pre covid, that’s good news surely?

I assume they're using the footfall figures which Network Rail calculate for their stations. I think they operate based on literally counting people through doors and barriers, rather than people with tickets starting and ending at the station.

 

[The exile]

It annoys me as a Glaswegian that it feels like Edinburgh is pulling ahead in every metric, while we sit idly doing basically nothing to improve our city. I blame the 1996 local council redrawing getting rid of Strathclyde regional council and devolution, which gave Edinburgh the most political power in Scotland.

Mirrors the feeling in Edinburgh back in the 1980s when Glasgow started to pull itself up - remember “Glasgow’s Miles Better”?

 

[Palmerston]

If HS2 got built to Crewe, maybe even Golborne and Glasgow had 2 tph from Euston, that would help. The airport link should have been built too, but I can't remember if that would have been from Central or not.

 

[Magdalia]

The article states that 33.4 million people used Central last year. However, the ORR figure for 24/25 was 25.3 million

In the ORR entries and exits estimates the top 4 stations in Scotland are:

Glasgow Central 25.3m
Edinburgh Waverley 22.8m
Glasgow Queen Street 15.0m
Edinburgh Haymarket 3.3m

The Scotsman article says:

More passengers used Waverley than Central in December - the third month last year that it pulled ahead

I would expect Waverley to be more seasonal than Central because of the Festival/Fringe and Hogmanay. Those 3 months I'd guess would be August, December and January.

It is also worth pointing out that the ORR have Waverley-Queen Street as the second biggest flow completely outside London at 2.4m. Waverley gets one end of the big Edinburgh-Glasgow flow, but Central doesn't get the other end.

 

[fandroid]

Central isn't the only main station in Glasgow. Combine Central and Queen Street numbers and compare with Waverley plus Haymarket and Glasgow is still a very long way ahead.

Don't be depressed, Glasgow, you're still up there as one of Britain's greatest cities!

 

[GRALISTAIR]

Imho, the current electrification programme plus all the reasons mentioned above help Waverley case.

 

[Cross City]

Glasgow, you're still up there as one of Britain's greatest cities!

Glasgow is the only other major UK city I'd live in apart from my home city. Absolutely love the place.

 

[enginedin]

Edinburgh has got the critical mass of almost year round tourism + business, and is a desirable place to relocate too.

As someone who did relocate to Edinburgh at somepoint in their life (and ended up living there longer than any other place I'd ever lived) I actually didn't find it desirable - I know I'm a bit of an outlier but it's not that unusual a sentiment. Housing is expensive, the Council seem to only pander to tourists (the Christmas Market taking over Princes Street Gardens for longer each year; no action seems to be taken against people who flout the new short term lets law aiming at stopping proliferation of AirBnB properties, etc), and it feels like too much effort and money is spent into keeping the tourists happy in the centre rather than actually dealing with some pretty severe social problems in several suburbs - the gap between richest and poorest in Edinburgh feels much wider than in other (large north-UK) cities I've lived in, and my (very humble) personal opinion is that this has a noticeable negative impact on the city. There's a significant area of the city centre (i.e. most of Old Town) which basically feels like a "tourist only" zone - there's nothing there that's aimed at residents.

Had swagger, mischief, the Art School, a culture.

the previous city I lived in, which I much preferred as a city, could probably be described like this too (although is also world famous and gets a lot of tourism because of some of its culture, but it never felt like it overwhelmed the city)

remember “Glasgow’s Miles Better”?

and now "People Make Glasgow"

 

[Southsider]

It annoys me as a Glaswegian that it feels like Edinburgh is pulling ahead in every metric, while we sit idly doing basically nothing to improve our city. I blame the 1996 local council redrawing getting rid of Strathclyde regional council and devolution, which gave Edinburgh the most political power in Scotland.

I agree and think the Hollyrood effect should not be underestimated as it attracts and directs investment towards Edinburgh whether actively or not. I don’t suggest it’s party political, just the natural result of it being there. I don’t think that the Glasgow city fathers (and mothers!) have done enough to promote and maintain the city, it’s a place I tend to avoid, opting for the leafy suburbs rather than the city of my birth and upbringing.

 

[Falcon1200]

I and others above were talking in more general terms about how Glasgow is getting overshadowed by Edinburgh as the former feels like, to this near life-long resident at least, it's been stuck in a rut for over a decade with no tangable, lasting, real-world improvements or political will to enact them to be found.

That overshadowing goes back a long way! My first ever trip to Scotland was a family holiday in 1975; We stayed in Callander, Fort William, Inverness, Pitlochry and of course Edinburgh (although my personal interest in the latter was Waverley station and Haymarket Depot, not the usual tourist sights). Not for one moment did we consider visiting Glasgow, it simply was not a tourist destination then. Things began to change IMHO with the Burrell Collection (about which we don't hear much nowadays?), but Edinburgh will always be the bigger draw with the Castle, Tattoo, Festival etc.

Central isn't the only main station in Glasgow. Combine Central and Queen Street numbers and compare with Waverley plus Haymarket and Glasgow is still a very long way ahead.

The Glasgow figures should surely also include Argyle Street, Anderston, High Street and Charing Cross, which are all city stations.

 

[Uncle Buck]

I have always been a very proud Glaswegian but the poor city has not recovered from covid. I rarely visit the city centre and find that nobody else wants to either. Byres Road is dilapidated, although the south side is having a moment. Constant roadworks do not help. Central is a cracker of a station (far more than the amorphous hole in the ground that is Waverley) but some of the areas around it are an absolute midden. Then again when I visit Edinburgh it feels like a theme park for tourists.

Without veering into politics I would say that the problem is our economic stagnation as a country. In Glasgow’s case this manifests itself in decay. In Edinburgh’s case the city has to be given over to tourists to get some cash in. Not good.

 

[Solweytracker]

Are there any published figures or estimates for the number of Anglo-Scottish customers from/to the erstwhile Glasgow Central catchment area who switched to travelling across from Queen St etc and then onwards via Waverley and the ECML?

Customers surely became aware of the major investments into improved services on the ECML, in comparison to the relative lack of progressive improvement north of Crewe, and the well-publicised reliability risks of Avanti and TPE service cancellations, with the attendant fear of dumping at Preston.

 

[tbtc]

I wonder whether the revenue for Waverley exceeds that of Central plus Queen Street, given how a significant proportion of tickets into Glasgow will be from short(ish) distance journeys that after relatively cheap per mile (since Edinburgh doesn't have as much of a suburban network) -whereas more journeys to/from Edinburgh are longer distance?

I agree with the points made about Glasgow's issues. Without wishing to get too party political, one effect of Holy rood that doesn't get enough attention is how it's sucked much of the life out of local government in the rest of Scotland. Once upon a time, Glasgow/Strathclyde could be it's own fiefdom, able to control things more. These days, Councils feel impotent rather than important, little scope to affect much

Two other points about the cities:

Edinburgh's "out of town" shopping centres generally don't feel like alternatives to the city centre (The Gyle, Ocean Terminal/ Cameron Toll etc... Only Fort Kinnaird has much heft). In contrast, places like Silverburn, Braehead and Glasgow Fort do feel like rivals to central Glasgow - and none of these have rail links, encouraging people to jump in the car instead

Secondly, I remember the days when Edinburgh had an hourly Citylink coach to Glasgow Airport (as did Fife for a while). Nowadays I think that the only public transport from anywhere east of Glasgow city centre to the Airport are the handful of extended Aberdeen-Glasgow Flixbus services which are crewed from the nearby McGills depot (i.e. marginal extensions).

In contrast, Glasgow (which never had any service to Edinburgh Airport when I was a laddie) now has four CityLink services an hour to Edinburgh Airport. Aberdeen/Dundee have hourly Ember coaches to Edinburgh Airport, McGills run dedicated services from Aberdeen and Dundee to Edinburgh Airport too. It's maybe just a little thing, but it reinforces the idea that Glasgow is for Glaswegians whilst Edinburgh is for everyone.

Hopefully passenger numbers in Glasgow do pick up the pace, there's a lot to recommend the place, but it doesn't feel like the council have the tools to improve things

 

[Strathclyder]

That overshadowing goes back a long way! My first ever trip to Scotland was a family holiday in 1975; We stayed in Callander, Fort William, Inverness, Pitlochry and of course Edinburgh (although my personal interest in the latter was Waverley station and Haymarket Depot, not the usual tourist sights). Not for one moment did we consider visiting Glasgow, it simply was not a tourist destination then. Things began to change IMHO with the Burrell Collection (about which we don't hear much nowadays?), but Edinburgh will always be the bigger draw with the Castle, Tattoo, Festival etc.

Oh yeah of course. Like I said in my first post here, Edinburgh always has and always will overshadow Glasgow in this respect (we simply don't have anything like the Castle, The Fringe, the Tattoo/Festival etc here).

It just feels far more acute than usual right now, the reasons for which are varied and wide-ranging as outlined other respondents (who articulated it far more elequently than I could with my rambling) on top of the reasons cited above: the Holyrood effect, the northern ECML getting continuous investment and service improvements in recent times compared to the northern WCML getting comparatively little with services north of Preston being plauged with persistant unreliabilty and outright cancellations even outside of major weather events/engineering works, Scotland's overall ecomonic health post-pandemic manifesting itself in Glasgow as decay/neglect and lack of promotion of the city by it's leaders (which ties back into my point about inept leadership in the City Chambers; that or just not having the tools/power to improve things meaningfully as @tbtc rightly points out).

But I suppose I'm just looking at this with too much of a glass half empty perspective - not a hard trap to fall into given I've lived here for most of my near 30 years and I've seen the city's highest highs and lowest lows for a long time in that period firsthand. For whatever reason really thought I'd get torn down for my posts here, but I'm pleasently surprised and grateful to see that it's been more or less the opposite response.

I wonder whether the revenue for Waverley exceeds that of Central plus Queen Street, given how a significant proportion of tickets into Glasgow will be from short(ish) distance journeys that after relatively cheap per mile (since Edinburgh doesn't have as much of a suburban network) -whereas more journeys to/from Edinburgh are longer distance?

Very good point that I somehow hadn't considered.

I agree with the points made about Glasgow's issues. Without wishing to get too party political, one effect of Holy rood that doesn't get enough attention is how it's sucked much of the life out of local government in the rest of Scotland. Once upon a time, Glasgow/Strathclyde could be it's own fiefdom, able to control things more. These days, Councils feel impotent rather than important, little scope to affect much

Two other points about the cities:

Edinburgh's "out of town" shopping centres generally don't feel like alternatives to the city centre (The Gyle, Ocean Terminal/ Cameron Toll etc... Only Fort Kinnaird has much heft). In contrast, places like Silverburn, Braehead and Glasgow Fort do feel like rivals to central Glasgow - and none of these have rail links, encouraging people to jump in the car instead

Secondly, I remember the days when Edinburgh had an hourly Citylink coach to Glasgow Airport (as did Fife for a while). Nowadays I think that the only public transport from anywhere east of Glasgow city centre to the Airport are the handful of extended Aberdeen-Glasgow Flixbus services which are crewed from the nearby McGills depot (i.e. marginal extensions).

In contrast, Glasgow (which never had any service to Edinburgh Airport when I was a laddie) now has four CityLink services an hour to Edinburgh Airport. Aberdeen/Dundee have hourly Ember coaches to Edinburgh Airport, McGills run dedicated services from Aberdeen and Dundee to Edinburgh Airport too. It's maybe just a little thing, but it reinforces the idea that Glasgow is for Glaswegians whilst Edinburgh is for everyone.

100% agreed, particularly the bit about the coach services. While not a big thing in and of itself, it is emblematic of the disparity between the two cities.

Hopefully passenger numbers in Glasgow do pick up the pace, there's a lot to recommend the place, but it doesn't feel like the council have the tools to improve things

Indeed. This is why I put forward the suggestion of the creation of a Strathclyde regional mayoralty centered on Glasgow that greatly expands the powers of the Lord Provost that could help improve matters in a meaningful way, but for 101 reasons it ain't never gonna happen, certainly not in my lifetime.

 

[Buzby]

Glasgow is the only other major UK city I'd live in apart from my home city. Absolutely love the place.

Funny that. I feel the same about Birmingham. I've spent months touring the canals and seeing the sights (even though I dislike New Street Stn with a vengeance!)

 

[Peter0124]

It's maybe just a little thing, but it reinforces the idea that Glasgow is for Glaswegians whilst Edinburgh is for everyone.

Unfortunately I agree with this, massive missed opportunity to build a large airport in the Falkirk area and shut both Glasgow and Edinburgh. It could've been as big as Manchester / Dublin. Whereas Glasgow is stuck with an airport west.

Also for train travel north of the central belt, Edinburgh takes the crown. A cross platform interchange at Haymarket or a run up the ECML is more attractive than walking between two Glasgow termini (or that shuttle bus).

 

[Cross City]

Funny that. I feel the same about Birmingham. I've spent months touring the canals and seeing the sights (even though I dislike New Street Stn with a vengeance!)

They're very similar places in many ways.

It helps I have a lot of family there but I've always felt at home in Glasgow.

 

[EMU303]

Lots of good points on this thread re Glasgow. But one thing I’ve noticed over the last few months is the huge number of new buildings going up within the city centre and immediately around it.

There’s a massive development on the Broomielaw stretching up to the expressway and Anderson station, another large one on Newton St up to Charing X station and the surrounding streets, plus the College Lands area near High St station. The much maligned Sauchiehall St is seeing the old M&S store being rebuilt and extended upwards into student flats. There are many more examples and many more in the pipeline. One thing they all have in common is scale and density which will push up the city centre population and drive demand for additional services which will hopefully result in empty premises being refurbished.
As a Glaswegian I’m fine with Edinburgh growing, but believe that Glasgow is on the cusp of finally turning the corner.

 

[Newtraveller58]

Imho, the current electrification programme plus all the reasons mentioned above help Waverley case.

I think the electrification programme is likely to reduce passenger numbers in the short term due to significant disruption in Fife over the next few years while parts of the line are electrified.

After that, most services will remain diesel operated until at least 2031 which is currently the target for battery/electric multiple units, although based on current progress that is optimistic.

So no benefits until at least 2031; an exception might be the 4 LNER services each way per day, which could operate on electric power once the work is completed.

 

[Uncle Buck]

Lots of good points on this thread re Glasgow. But one thing I’ve noticed over the last few months is the huge number of new buildings going up within the city centre and immediately around it.

There’s a massive development on the Broomielaw stretching up to the expressway and Anderson station, another large one on Newton St up to Charing X station and the surrounding streets, plus the College Lands area near High St station. The much maligned Sauchiehall St is seeing the old M&S store being rebuilt and extended upwards into student flats. There are many more examples and many more in the pipeline. One thing they all have in common is scale and density which will push up the city centre population and drive demand for additional services which will hopefully result in empty premises being refurbished.
As a Glaswegian I’m fine with Edinburgh growing, but believe that Glasgow is on the cusp of finally turning the corner.

i truly wish this was the case, but the percentage of new construction in Glasgow that is student housing is ridiculous.

It feels like the city is being built around the needs of overseas students, not the inhabitants.

 

[D1537]

I much prefer Glasgow to Edinburgh. It seems more genuine, if that makes sense. Edinburgh has some brilliant parts, but in general seems too much in thrall to where the money comes from, which is foreign tourism, and neglects those who might want to stay for a passing visit. For example, the last time we were in Edinburgh we ended up paying nearly £200 for a bog-standard hotel at the Airport (there was nothing less than £300 any closer to the centre, and this wasn't during the fringe, it was November), whereas in Glasgow I last paid £99 for a really great hotel (The Social Hub near Argyle Street) and that was not long before Xmas...

 

[The exile]

Oh yeah of course. Like I said in my first post here, Edinburgh always has and always will overshadow Glasgow in this respect (we simply don't have anything like the Castle, The Fringe, the Tattoo/Festival etc here).

Hence the suggested riposte to “Glasgow’s miles better” being “Edinburgh’s slightly superior” (with tongue firmly in cheek). Can’t remember what Edinburgh came up with in the end , but it wasn’t a patch on Glasgow’s!